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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Benedict Cumberbatch Discusses The Time He Accidentally Made A Boner Joke To A Teenage Girl

CRUSHABLE
7 hours ago by Jill O’Rourke

Oh, Benedict Cumberbatch. What an awkward British butterfly. His recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show is like the gift that just keeps on giving. There were Beyonce impressions, there were pengwings, and now there’s a story about the time he accidentally told a teenage girl she gave him a boner. And not just any teenage girl — a gold-medal-winning Olympic swimmer. What a time to be alive!

Let me set the scene for you. Last year (actually this year, but he says last year so just go with it) Benedict was presenting at the Laureus Awards, which he describes as “like the Oscars, but for sports.” He almost lost me as soon as he said the word “sports,” but his voice is so captivating that I kept listening. And boy was it worth it! Benedict explains that he spoke to American swimmer Missy Franklin at the event, and reminds us that she’s still a teenager (19 now, but 18 then). That’s an important detail to remember when you hear his story. Benedict was marveling at how much she’s accomplished at such a young age, and he was trying to express how old it made him feel, and he chose to use the sentence “I’m just getting stiff even listening to you.”